


conversations by the window.

by ardberts



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/M, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers, Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-02 13:23:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20276599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ardberts/pseuds/ardberts
Summary: “Do you ever think about that night?”---A collection of conversations between Ardbert and Nara, my WoL, at the window of her inn at the Crystarium.





	1. "do you ever think about that night?"

**Author's Note:**

> these are drabbles i posted on tumblr, but decided to finally add here for safekeeping. i take prompts for conversation topics! feel free to shoot me a comment here or an ask on tumblr if you want to prompt me.

“Do you ever think about that night?”

Nara tears her gaze away from the sky outside her window, newly glistening with the starlight that she had brought to it mere hours earlier, to look up at him. She is no longer fazed by Ardbert’s presence in her room — in fact, it’s more often a welcome addition than not. She’s forgotten how much she’s missed his company, as complicated as their past may be.

“There was a time when I’d stopped,” she replies softly, a sinking weight in her chest as she notes the look on his face. He is wistful, half-smiling, and his eyes are a crystalline blue sea of nostalgia and remorse.

“What was it about me?” he asks, a playful grin masking his solemnity. She takes the bait and her cheeks burn as her gaze drops to the ground between them.

“You were like me,” she says.

“What, corporeal?”

She knows he means it as a joke but still can’t find it in her to laugh. How different things would have been had she known this would be where they’d end up.


	2. "who are they?"

“Who are they?”

Ardbert keeps his eyes locked on the sky beyond the window, not entirely sure what answer he hopes to hear. Beside him, Nara shifts her weight from one foot to the other and clasps her hands behind her back. Ardbert remembers her language well, even after all this time — she did that when she was anxious.

“Who do you mean?” Nara asks, her voice a lilting feign of ignorance.

“Hmph,” Ardbert breathes, a wry smile on his face as he glances down at her. “You know, whoever it is that stopped you from thinking of me.”

He watches her nibble at her lower lip as her gaze falls to the floor for a moment. When she looks up at him, she’s smiling, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

“Why?” she teases, tongue between her teeth. “Are you jealous?”

“No,” Ardbert lies quickly, trying his hardest to ignore the sinking feeling in his chest. He takes a breath, ready to justify himself but is silenced by the sudden onset of sadness in Nara’s eyes. Though her smile remains, he sees the light within her begin to flicker.

“Would you do something about it?” she asks, her voice wavering ever so slightly, heavy with a wish that Ardbert is unable to grant.

He sighs, letting the question hang in the air around them like a gray cloud.

“Would that I could.”


End file.
